Chapter 00096: The Hand Holding the Teacup Trembled Slightly
# The Hand Holding the Teacup Trembled Slightly
Chapter 96
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 96 The Hand Holding the Teacup Trembled Slightly
Inside the box were a total of ten small vials.
According to the labels, there were two vials of ‘High Grade healing potion’, two vials of ‘Potion of Neutralize Poison’, two vials of ‘Potion of Remove Disease’, two vials of ‘Potion of Restoration’, and two vials of ‘Potion of False Life’.
The others were easy enough to understand.
He knew without thinking that a Healing Potion was a red potion.
The Potion of Remove Disease and Potion of Neutralize Poison had their functions written right on them.
He figured Restoration was probably for removing abnormal statuses, which was also understandable.
But this Potion of False Life left Li Chengxi a little baffled.
What did it mean? If you poured the potion on the figurine wives of otaku, could it bring the figurines to life?
That didn't feel right.
Li Chengxi scratched his head, intending to put the potion back into the game and right-click to check its properties.
“Mr. Li Chengxi, what are you looking at? So intently?”
A voice suddenly came from the side, nearly causing Li Chengxi to drop the potion vial in his hand.
He looked up and saw Qian Sen, his arm wrapped in a bandage.
He hadn't even noticed when he had come in.
Speaking of which, when Qian Sen had called yesterday, he did mention he would drop by today and bring something for Li Chengxi.
Qian Sen craned his neck to look behind the cashier counter and noticed the box of potions.
“Are those the potions Miss Audel sent over?”
“Uh... yes.”
The man had already seen them, so there was no point in hiding it.
Li Chengxi simply said:
“But there’s one called Potion of False Life, and I don’t understand what it’s used for.”
“That’s a good item.”
“What exactly are its effects?”
“Although I know, it’s better if you see for yourself.”
“?”
Li Chengxi was completely confused.
Qian Sen lifted his uninjured hand, revealing a paper bag.
“For you. It was just approved.”
“What is this? A DVD player?”
Opening the bag, Li Chengxi became even more puzzled.
“This model would have been trendy when I was a kid, but now even the scrap heap wouldn't want it, right? What era is this? Still using a DVD player? I can’t even find any DVD discs now. You should have at least gotten a Blu-ray player.”
“Don’t be hasty. The DVD player is just a disguise, though you can indeed use it to watch discs.”
So it really had a DVD player function?
Qian Sen motioned for Li Chengxi to take the data cable out of the bag and plug it into his computer.
“See that round thing below the disc tray? Yes, right there. Press it with your index finger; it requires a fingerprint. Then swipe your ID card through the reader on the side. After that, look into the small hole on the side, get a little closer. That’s a camera, it needs to record your facial and iris information.”
Li Chengxi followed Qian Sen's instructions and completed the series of operations, asking in confusion:
“This isn’t some kind of spy equipment, is it? It’s so troublesome.”
“It’s better to be safe. It’s always good to be careful.”
Qian Sen then gestured for Li Chengxi to look at his computer screen:
“Is there a new icon on the desktop? Click on it.”
The icon was simple, just a blue circle with the word ‘Browser’ underneath.
Li Chengxi clicked on it, and the browser automatically jumped to a forum page.
But to be honest, the UI design of this forum was very simplistic, giving off a vibe from around the year 2000 when the internet was just taking off.
It was less like a forum and more like the chat rooms that were popular before chat software became widespread, a relic from over twenty years ago.
“What website is this?”
“It’s for insiders only. Don’t be fooled by its simplicity; everyone inside is in the know.”
“There are so many people like me?”
Li Chengxi saw that the top left corner of the website indicated over one hundred and fifty thousand registered users, with more than two thousand currently browsing.
“Not all of them are like you, who have had a transmigrator living in their home. There are also some like Lei Lei, people from our own Earth who possess supernatural powers.”
The very first day Qian Sen met Li Chengxi, he had said that transmigrators coming to Earth was not a rare occurrence in the eyes of Section Nine.
But Li Chengxi truly hadn't expected there to be so many.
“To access this forum, you need to connect our device to a computer. Outsiders can’t get in, so remember to keep it safe and don't lose it. Reapplying is quite a hassle. You can explore it on your own. I have to get back to work.”
“No, wait a minute. You still haven’t told me about the Potion of False Life.”
“There's a search function on the forum. You’ll know once you search for it yourself, and I think you’ll be very surprised.”
Great, he was being cryptic again.
Qian Sen's main purpose was to deliver this device that could access the insider forum, and he left right after explaining.
Li Chengxi looked at the retro layout and decided to check the discussion boards first.
He didn't quite dare to speak in the chat rooms, since who knew if the person typing on the other side was even human.
The discussion board's layout was similar to a typical forum.
Clicking in, he saw a series of pinned and highlighted posts, such as ‘Ten Tips for Getting Along with Transmigrators,’ ‘A Scientific Explanation for Why Otherworlders Can Adapt to Earth's Viruses and Bacteria,’ ‘How to Handle Emergency Situations,’ and so on.
He glanced at the posters; they were all listed as ‘Section Nine,’ basically official guide posts.
Further down were the user-posted threads.
But the style...
Things like asking if it was okay to feed a werewolf dog food, whether a druid could save on food expenses by turning into a tree and photosynthesizing all day, sending a barbarian to cram school to get into university, and he even saw a post about a harpy having too strong a libido, asking fellow users for a good kidney-strengthening remedy...
“Isn't this just a bunch of silly netizens!”
The so-called discussion board was basically filled with this kind of content.
It seemed that even on an exclusive insider forum, the goofball netizens who had transmigrators at home were still goofballs.
Just as Li Chengxi was about to scroll down further, he happened to glimpse ‘Trading Zone’ on the left side.
It had an online trading function?
What could they possibly sell here?
Li Chengxi was quite interested and clicked on it.
‘Seeking Potion of Remove Disease for a high price, price negotiable.’
‘Anyone still have Healing Potions? Urgently need a large quantity.’
‘Looking to buy a protective magical artifact, state your price.’
If he hadn't known better, Li Chengxi would have thought this was a trading zone for some game.
Could it be that everything traded here came from another world?
Li Chengxi saw a search bar on one side of the Trading Zone.
He clicked on it and typed ‘High Grade healing potion.’
The search results brought up a huge number of buy and sell posts, though many were marked as ‘Transaction Complete, Closed.’
He randomly clicked open a post.
At the end of the post was a quote section that read, ‘Final transaction price was 50000.’
“Fifty thousand?”
Li Chengxi thought he had misread the number of zeros.
He counted carefully, and yes, it was indeed fifty thousand.
“Just one small vial, and it’s actually this valuable?”
Remembering Qian Sen's meaningful words before he left, Li Chengxi quickly typed the names of the other potions into the search bar, such as the Potion of False Life that he found puzzling.
“So this potion can hold on to a life?”
According to the information in the trading posts, the Potion of False Life could temporarily grant a person increased vitality.
In other words, someone on the verge of death from a sudden illness could drink it and hold on for a while longer, providing ample opportunity for emergency medical treatment.
Below, the listed transaction price was 120,000.
Thinking about it, this price didn't seem too outrageous.
He remembered that some life-saving traditional Chinese medicines could also cost hundreds of thousands.
Li Chengxi understood.
He then searched for the prices of the other potions.
“Potion of Neutralize Poison for thirty thousand, Potion of Restoration for one hundred and fifty thousand, Potion of Remove Disease for...”
“2 to 3, million?”
Li Chengxi looked at the small vials on the cashier counter, then at the transaction price written on the screen.
The hand holding the teacup trembled slightly.